The Paris Paralympics are under way and you can plan how to follow the competition with our day-by-day guide – all times BST.
A team of 215 athletes will represent ParalympicsGB in the French capital with a target of 100-140 medals set by UK Sport.
At the delayed Tokyo 2020 Games, held in 2021, the GB team finished second behind China in the medal table with 124 medals, including 41 golds.
The Games began with the opening ceremony on Wednesday, 28 August, with the first medals decided the following day and action continuing until the closing ceremony on Sunday, 8 September.
Medal events: 63
Para-cycling road (women’s C1-3, C4, C5, B, H1-3, H4-5, T1-2 time trials; men’s C1, C2, C3, C4, C5, B, H1, H2, H3, H4, H5, T1-2 time trials); Para-equestrian (Grade IV grand prix test, Grade V grand prix test); Para-swimming (men’s S12 100m freestyle, SM14 200m IM, S8 400m freestyle, SB2 50m breaststroke, S7 men’s 50m freestyle; women’s S12 100m freestyle, SM14 200m IM, S8 400m freestyle, SB3 50m breaststroke, S7 100m freestyle, S9 100m freestyle; mixed 49 point 4x100m freestyle relay); Para-athletics (women’s F41 discus, F46 shot put, F32 shot put, T36 100m, T53 100m, T54 100m; men’s F46 shot put, javelin F34, 400m T37, long jump T38, 100m T53, club throw F51, 100m T54, long jump T64, shot put F36); Wheelchair fencing (men’s foil category A, foil category B; women’s foil category A, foil category B); Para-powerlifting (women’s -41kg, -45kg; men’s -49kg, -54kg); Wheelchair tennis (quad doubles); Para-archery (men’s individual recurve open); Para-table tennis (women’s singles WS5, WS10, men’s singles MS10); Shooting Para-sport (P4 – mixed 50m pistol SH1, R9 mixed 50m rifle prone SH2)
Highlights
Day seven will be the first chance to see Britain’s most successful Paralympian Sarah Storey at Paris 2024.
The 17-time gold medallist across swimming and cycling opted out of the track programme to concentrate on the road and she starts her campaign for gold number 18 in the C5 time trial (from 07:00) – an event where she has won gold at every Games since her cycling debut in 2008.
The women’s B time trial could also be a good one for GB with Tokyo silver medallists Lora Fachie and Corrine Hall and the 2023 world silver medallists Sophie Unwin and Jenny Holl aiming for gold.
Ben Watson, Jaco van Gass and Fin Graham will be aiming for a clean sweep in the men’s C3 time trial while Archie Atkinson will be chasing hard in the C4 event.
Scottish wheelchair racer Sammi Kinghorn will be hoping to become the first non-Chinese athlete to win the T53 100m title (19:08) since Tanni Grey-Thompson triumphed in Athens in 2004.
Kinghorn won world gold in 2023 but China’s Fang Gao and Hongzhuan Zhou and Switzerland’s Catherine Debrunner will be big dangers.
Another Scot Stephen Clegg should be among the main challengers in the S12 100m freestyle final (16:30) while Poppy Maskill and Olivia Newman-Baronius are the fastest two in the world this year in the SM14 200m IM (16:50) and Rhys Darbey and Will Ellard could figure in the men’s race (16:42).
Alice Tai has previously been a 50/100m specialist but swimming the Channel in 2023 has helped her grow to love the longer distances and she will hoping for a medal in the S8 400m freestyle (17:24) alongside Brock Whiston.
Powerlifter Zoe Newson be hoping to lift her way to a third Paralympic medal when she goes in the -45kg division (16:00) while Para-equestrian rider Sophie Wells will also be aiming to add to her six individual medals in the Grade V grand prix test (11:55).
GB’s women will face the United States in their wheelchair basketball quarter-final (15:00) while the first wheelchair tennis medals will be decided at Roland Garros in the quad doubles with Andy Lapthorne and Greg Slade facing formidable Dutch duo Sam Schroder and Niels Vink for the gold.
World watch
Germany’s Markus Rehm – best known as the Blade Jumper – will start as strong favourite to win his fourth Paralympic long jump title in the T64 category (19:29).
Rehm, who lost his right leg below the knee in a wakeboarding accident in 2003 and jumps using a bladed prosthesis, has been the star of Para-athletics, constantly pushing the boundaries of his event.
However, he is unable to compete at the Olympics because it was ruled that jumping off his prosthesis gives him an advantage over non-amputees.
His current world record stands at 8.72m – the ninth longest jump of all time. His 2024 best is 8.44m – a distance which would have won Olympic silver in Paris and gold at the previous four Games.
Did you know?
As well as standard racing bikes with modifications where required and tandems, the Para-cycling road programme also features handcycling and trike races.
A handcycle has three wheels and riders use the strength of their upper limbs to operate the chainset. It is used by cyclists with spinal cord injuries or with one or both lower limbs amputated.
Tricycles are used by riders with locomotor dysfunction and balance issues such as cerebral palsy or hemiplegia.
Medal events: 63
Para-athletics (women’s F35 shot put, T38 long jump, F57 shot put, T37 100m, F64 shot put, T63 long jump, T12 100m, T53 400m, T54 400m, F33 shot put; men’s T12 400m, T13 400m, F11 discus, F64 discus, T11 100m, T53 800m, F35 shot put, T54 800m, F13 javelin); Shooting Para-sport (R6 – mixed 50m rifle prone SH1); Para-swimming (women’s SB7 100m breaststroke, S10 400m freestyle, SB11 100m breaststroke, SM9 200m IM, SB13 100m breaststroke, SB12 100m breaststroke, S8 50m freestyle; men’s S5 50m freestyle, S6 100m freestyle, SB11 100m breaststroke, SM9 200m IM, SB13 100m breaststroke; mixed 4x50m medley – 20 point), Para-powerlifting (women’s up to 50kg, up to 55kg; men’s up to 59kg, up to 65kg); Boccia (mixed BC1/2 team, mixed BC3 pairs, mixed BC4 pairs); Wheelchair tennis (women’s doubles; quad singles); Para-table tennis (men’s MS2 singles, MS3 singles, MS11 singles; women’s WS7 singles, WS11 singles); Wheelchair fencing (women’s foil team; men’s foil team); Para-cycling road (men’s H1-2 road race, H3 road race, H4 road race, H5 road race; women’s H1-4 road race, H5 road race); Goalball (women’s final, men’s final), Para-archery (mixed team recurve open); Para-judo (women -48kg J1, -48kg J2, -57kg J1; men -60 kg J1, -60 kg J2)
Highlights
GB will be hoping for success at different ends of the experience scale on day eight in Paris.
Discus thrower Dan Greaves will be hoping to win his seventh medal at his seventh Games in the F64 event (18:04), having made his debut in Sydney in 2000 aged 18 and winning a gold, two silvers and three bronzes over his career. Team-mate Harrison Walsh will also be challenging for a medal.
And in the pool, 13-year-old Iona Winnifrith, the youngest member of the GB team, has a strong chance of a medal in the SB7 100m breaststroke (16:30) at her first Games.
It could be a good day for the GB throwers. Along with Greaves and Walsh, Dan Pembroke defends his F13 javelin title (19:45) having won two world titles since his gold in Tokyo in 2021 while Funmi Oduwaiye will hope to challenge in the F64 women’s shot put (10:43). A throw around her season’s best of 11.82m could put the former basketball player in the medal mix and Anna Nicholson will be hoping for a first major medal in the F35 shot put (09:00), having smashed her PB earlier this summer.
Also in the field, Olivia Breen in the T38 long jump (09:04) and Sammi Kinghorn in the T53 400m (18:25) on the track will be aiming to add to their Paralympic medals.
Shooter Matt Skelhon won Paralympic gold on his debut in Beijing in 2008 and goes into the R6 mixed 50m rifle prone SH1 event as reigning world and European champion and will be aiming to hold all three titles at once (qualifying 08:30, final 10:45).
In the pool, Becky Redfern will be cheered on by four-year-old son Patrick as she hopes to make it third time lucky in the SB13 100m breaststroke (18:22) after silvers in Rio and Tokyo.
Powerlifters Olivia Broome and Mark Swan will be hoping for medals in the women’s -50kg (11:00) and men’s -65kg (17:35) events while the boccia team finals take place with GB hoping to figure in the BC1/2 team (16:00) and the BC3 mixed pairs (20:00) and the men’s basketball semi-finals will ensure plenty of excitement (15:00 and 20:30).
World watch
Sprinter Timothee Adolphe is one of the big home hopes for success at the Stade de France and he will be aiming to shine in the T11 100m final (18:08) for athletes with little or no vision.
As well as his athletics career, Adolphe is also a talented hip hop artist and was signed up by fashion house Louis Vuitton for a Games advertising campaign where he joined Olympic swimming star Leon Marchand.
In the pool, Germany’s Elena Semechin and American Ali Truwit will both be hoping to claim medals after challenging times.
Semechin won gold at Tokyo 2020 under her maiden name of Krawzow but months later was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumour. Now back to full fitness, she goes in the SB12 100m breaststroke (18:29).
Truwit could be a big challenger in the 400m S10 freestyle final (16:50) just over a year after losing her leg below the knee in a shark attack in the Caribbean.
Did you know?
Boccia is one of two Paralympic sports – along with goalball – which does not have an Olympic counterpart. Similar to petanque, it is played by athletes in wheelchairs who have an impairment that affects their motor function.
The name comes from the Italian word for ‘ball’ and the sport made its Paralympic debut in 1984 and is played by athletes from more than 70 countries.
Medal events: 57
Para-athletics (women’s T47 long jump, F12 shot put, T20 1500m, F38 discus, T64 100m, F46 javelin, T20 long jump; men’s F54 javelin, T20 1500m, T52 100m, T64 high jump, F37 discus, F57 shot put, T62 400m, T51 100m; mixed 4x100m universal relay); Para-cycling road (men’s C4-5 road race, B road race; women’s C4-5 road race, B road race); Para-equestrian (team test); Para-powerlifting (men’s up to 72kg, up to 80kg; women’s up to 61kg, up to 67kg); Wheelchair tennis (men’s doubles; women’s singles); Para-table Tennis (men’s MS1 singles, MS6 singles, MS7 singles; women’s WS1-2 singles, WS3 singles); Para-swimming (men’s S6 400m freestyle, S5 50m butterfly, S10 100m backstroke, S9 100m butterfly, S14 100m backstroke, S3 50m freestyle, S4 50m freestyle, S11 100m butterfly, S8 100m freestyle; women’s S6 400m freestyle, S5 50m butterfly, S10 100m backstroke, S9 100m butterfly, S14 100m backstroke, S4 50m freestyle); Wheelchair fencing (men’s epee A, epee B; women’s epee A, epee B); Sitting volleyball (men’s final); Para-judo (women’s -57kg J2, -70kg J1, -70kg J2; men’s -73kg J1, -73kg J2)
Highlights
Sarah Storey goes for another Paralympic gold as she bids to retain her title in the C4-5 road race (from 08:30) while Tokyo silver medallists Sophie Unwin and Jenny Holl will aim to go one better in the Women’s B race with Archie Atkinson aiming for a medal in the men’s C4-5 event.
Jonathan Broom-Edwards bids to retain his T64 high jump title (10:45) while Hollie Arnold will be hoping to regain her T46 javelin crown (18:18) after finishing third in Tokyo before winning two world titles in 2023 and 2024.
Jeanette Chippington, the oldest member of the ParalympicsGB team in Paris aged 54, is among the GB Para-canoeists getting their campaigns under way – she goes in the heats of the VL2 (09:20) before the preliminaries of the KL1 (10:25).
GB will hope to continue their dominance in the Para-equestrian team test (from 08:30) having won every gold since it was introduced into the Games in 1996.
It could also be a big day in the wheelchair fencing at the Grand Palais with Piers Gilliver aiming to retain his epee A crown (19:50) and both Dimitri Coutya in the epee B (18:40) and Gemma Collis in the women’s epee A (20:25) also in good form.
Alfie Hewett has won everything in wheelchair tennis, apart from a Paralympic gold medal, and he and Gordon Reid will hope to figure in the men’s doubles decider (from 12:30) after winning silver in both Rio and Tokyo.
Table tennis player Will Bayley will hope to be involved in the MS7 singles final (18:15) and win again after Rio gold and Tokyo silver while Rio champion Rob Davies and Tokyo bronze medallist Tom Matthews could figure in the MS1 singles decider (13:00).
Poppy Maskill will be aiming for gold in the pool in the S14 100m backstroke (18:08). Bethany Firth won three golds in the event – one for Ireland in 2012 before switching nationalities and triumphing for GB in Rio and Tokyo but she will not be in Paris having recently given birth.
World watch
US sprinter Hunter Woodhall watched on proudly in Paris in August as his wife Tara Davis-Woodhall won Olympic long jump gold and he will hope to match her achievement in the T62 400m (18:33)
His Paralympic plans were hampered by a bout of Covid after the Olympics but Woodhall, who claimed bronze in the event in Tokyo, will be hoping to be fully fit.
Dutch wheelchair tennis star Diede de Groot will be favourite to retain her women’s singles title at Roland Garros (from 12:30) after a 2024 which has already yielded Australian Open, French Open and Wimbledon titles.
And in the pool, Italy’s Simone Barlaam will be hoping for another successful night in the S9 100m butterfly (17:34) with Ireland’s Barry McClements bidding to figure.
Did you know?
Para-equestrian teams are made up three athletes, at least one of which must be a Grade I, II or III and no more than two athletes within a team may be the same grade.
Each combination rides the set test for their grade, which is scored as per the individual test – no scores are carried over from the previous test.
The scores of all three team members are combined to produce a team total, and the nation with the highest total takes gold.
In Grade I to III, athletes ride in smaller dressage arenas compared with Grade IV to V, and the difficulty of tests increases with the grade.
Grade I athletes perform tests at a walk, while Grades II and III can walk and trot. In Grades IV and V, they perform tests at a walk, trot, cantor and do lateral work.
Medal events: 75
Para-athletics (men’s T13 long jump, F34 shot put, T34 800m, T35 200m, T37 200m, T36 100m, F41 javelin, F33 shot put, T20 long jump, T38 1500m, T64 200m, F63 shot put, T47 400m; women’s F54 javelin, T13 400m, F40 shot put, T11 200m, T12 200m, T47 200m, T34 800m, T38 400m, T63 100m); Para-cycling road (women’s C1-3 road race, T1-2 road race; men’s C1-3 road race, T1-2 road race; mixed H1-5 team relay); Para-canoe (men’s KL1, KL2, KL3; women’s VL2, VL3); Para-equestrian (Grade I freestyle test, Grade II freestyle test, Grade III freestyle test, Grade IV freestyle test, Grade V freestyle test); Para-judo (men’s -90kg J1, -90kg J2, +90kg J1, +90kg J2, women’s +70kg J1, +70kg J2); Para-powerlifting (women’s up to 73kg, up to 79kg; men’s up to 88kg, up to 97kg); Wheelchair tennis (men’s singles); Para-swimming (men’s SM10 200m IM, S6 100m backstroke, S8 100m butterfly, S7 50m butterfly, S4 50m backstroke, S12 100m butterfly, S3 200m freestyle; women’s SM10 200m IM, S6 100m backstroke, S8 100m butterfly, S7 50m butterfly, S4 50m backstroke, S11 100m freestyle, SM5 200m IM; mixed 34 point 4x100m freestyle relay); Para-table tennis (men’s MS4 singles, MS8 singles, MS9 singles; women’s WS4 singles, WS6 singles, WS8 singles, WS9 singles); Wheelchair fencing (women’s epee team, men’s epee team); Wheelchair basketball (men’s final), Blind football (final), Sitting volleyball (women’s final)
Highlights
The final day of the track athletics programme should see two of Britain’s most successful and high-profile athletes in action.
Hannah Cockroft goes in as favourite for the T34 800m (19:20) – an event where she is two-time defending champion and unbeaten in the event at major championships since 2014.
Shot putter Aled Sion Davies took bronze in the event at London 2012 but is unbeaten ever since and goes into the F63 final (19:25) as number one in the world while Zak Skinner will hope to make up for fourth in Tokyo with a medal in the T13 long jump (09:00).
Tokyo gold medal-winning canoeist Emma Wiggs will be hoping to retain her VL2 title (10:52) while Charlotte Henshaw, who also won gold in Tokyo, and winter Paralympian Hope Gordon could be fighting it out in the VL3 event (11:36) – a new addition to the programme in Paris.
Britain’s three judoka will all be in action – Tokyo gold medallist Chris Skelley in the +90kg J2 division (final 17:13) after Dan Powell and Evan Molloy bid for glory in the -90kg J1 (14:32) and 90kg J2 (16:09) divisions.
Ben Watson and Fin Graham could fight it out again in the men’s C1-3 road race (from 08:30) after winning gold and silver in Tokyo while Daphne Schrager and Fran Brown go in the women’s race.
The Para-equestrian events conclude with the freestyle events (from 08:30) involving the top eight combinations in each grade from the individual tests earlier in the programme.
The final night of the swimming could see butterfly success for both Alice Tai in the women’s S8 100m event (17:07) and for Stephen Clegg in the men’s S12 100m (18:23) – the latter was edged out for gold in Tokyo by 0.06 seconds.
Alfie Hewett will be hoping to figure in the men’s singles medal matches in the wheelchair tennis at Roland Garros (from 12:30) while at the Bercy Arena, the men’s wheelchair basketball programme comes to a climax (20:30).
World watch
American Ellie Marks was due to compete at the 2014 Invictus Games in London but instead a respiratory infection left her in a coma in Papworth Hospital in Cambridge.
She recovered and after winning four golds at the Invictus Games in 2016 presented one of the gold medals to the hospital staff who saved her life.
She made her Paralympic debut in Rio, winning breaststroke gold and in Tokyo claimed S6 backstroke gold and will aim to defend her title (16:53).
Italy will hope for another Para-athletics clean sweep in the T63 100m (20:22) where Ambra Sabatini, Martina Caironi and Monica Contrafatto finished in the medal positions in Tokyo and again at the 2023 and 2024 Worlds.
And at the Eiffel Tower Stadium, Brazil will be hoping to continue their dominance in the blind football tournament in the gold-medal match (19:00).
Did you know?
Blind football teams are made up of four outfield players and one goalkeeper, who is sighted.
Matches are divided into two 20-minute halves and played on a pitch measuring 40 metres x 20 metres with boards running down both sidelines to keep the ball, which has rattles built in so players can locate it, within the field of play.
In attack, the footballers are aided by a guide who stands behind the opposition goal.
Spectators are asked to stay silent during play and when players move towards an opponent, go in for a tackle or are searching for the ball, they say “voy” or a similar word.
Medal events: 14
Para-athletics (men’s T54 marathon, T12 marathon; women’s T54 marathon, T12 marathon); Para-canoe (women’s KL1, KL2, KL3; men’s VL2, VL3); Para-powerlifting (women’s up to 86kg, over 86kg; men’s up to 107kg, over 107kg); Wheelchair basketball (women’s final)
Highlights
On the final day, action returns to the streets of the French capital with the marathons (from 07:00) which will include a 185-metre climb and link Seine-Saint-Denis, the area at the heart of the Games, and central Paris.
As the race nears its end, the competitors will pass through Place de la Concorde, which hosted the opening ceremony, before heading up the Champs-Elysees and its cobbles to the Arc de Triomphe and the finish line at the Esplanade des Invalides, which was also the Olympic marathon finish.
Eden Rainbow-Cooper made a major breakthrough when she won the Boston Marathon in April and will hope to shine on the Paris streets along with David Weir who famously won in London but was fifth in Tokyo after failing to finish in Rio.
GB will be hoping for canoe success with defending KL2 champion Charlotte Henshaw and KL3 champion Laura Sugar both hoping to be on top of the podium again (10:41 and 11:07) and could model and Mr England winner Jack Eyers land a medal in the VL3 final (11:33)?
World watch
The final day of powerlifting sees the heavyweights take to the stage – the women’s up to 86kg (09:35) and over 86kg divisions (13:00) and the men’s up to 107kg (08:00) and over 107kg (14:35) – the final gold medal before the closing ceremony.
In the over 107kg division in Tokyo, Jordan’s Jamil Elshebli and Mansour Pourmirzaei of Iran both lifted 241kg – almost 38 stone in old money – with Elshebli winning gold on countback.
China’s Deng Xuemei lifted 153kg to take the women’s over 86kg and you can expect plenty of big lifts again this time around.
The women’s wheelchair basketball also takes centre stage with the Netherlands aiming to retain the title they won for the first time in Tokyo (final 12:45).
